Holidays with Larma
by Iheartkarmy
Summary: Karma and Lauren have been dating for six months and celebrate their first New Year's Eve together with a very special moment or two. And then comes their first Valentine's...
1. Wow (A Very Larma New Year's)

**If you read Tears in Her Popcorn, you know I like Larma (don't ask why). This isn't the same universe, but it's my fav couple enjoying the holiday together. Reviews and comments always welcome. Happy New Year!**

It was fifteen minutes to midnight and Karma couldn't find her girlfriend.

And yes, _that_ was still weird to her, even after six months and yes, she still did frequently find herself asking just how the hell _this_ had happened and she never really had an answer.

Not that she was complaining.

Truthfully, she thought as she scanned the Raudenfeld's back yard, if someone had told her _seven_ months ago that this is where she'd be and who she'd be with and that she'd actually be _happy,_ she'd have told them they were insane. Utterly and completely, totes out of their mind.

She wouldn't say totes _now_ though. Her girlfriend doesn't like it. "Totes are things you carry shit in," Lauren says, always in that same exasperated 'remind me why I'm with you' tone.

That's when Karma kisses her. Always. And reminds her _exactly_ why she's with her.

Of course, Karma thought as she gave up on the backyard (too many people and yes, she knows it's a party but they're _in her way_ ) and heads for the kitchen, she knows it's not _just_ the kisses. If Lauren were in this just for he kisses, they never would have lasted this long.

And _yes_ , she knows six months isn't _that_ long but it is when you had to deal with an (initially) disapproving best friend ("Lauren? _Really_? Liam wasn't available?), a (still somewhat) disapproving mother figure ("can anyone in this house not fall for Karma Ashcroft? ") and most of the school not believing she was really gay (or bi or Laurensexual or _whatever_ it is Karma is) since, you know, she faked it once before?

Things like that make six months seem like six years.

Karma scanned the kitchen, her attention drawn to the corner when she heard a familiar deep laugh. _Bruce_. She thought again how nice it was that he and Farrah were getting along well enough for her to invite him (and tried not to think about how well Lauren seemed to think they were _really_ getting along) . Karma knew it meant a lot to Lauren to have her father there, especially since she didn't see him that often now that he'd moved back to Dallas and extra especially since he'd been the only one to be happy for them right off the bat.

She made her way across the kitchen, hoping Lauren would be be there, tucked against her father's side, rolling her eyes and pretending like he drove her nuts and annoyed her. Karma knew it was pretend and knew that Lauren secretly _loved_ her father's often bumbling attempts at being a good dad.

She also knew if she ever said that out loud Lauren wouldn't kiss for her a week. Minimum.

Karma never said a word.

Lauren kisses were just too good.

Bruce caught sight of her just before she got to him. "There she is!" he hollered, obviously already slightly tipsy. Karma had learned a lot about Bruce in the last six months, including that a few beers (or even fewer glasses of wine, which is why he usually avoided it, though clearly that wasn't the case _tonight_ ) made him even more… Bruce… than usual.

He caught her up in a hug and swung her around and Karma was very glad she hadn't had anything to drink (which had _totes_ nothing to do with the last time she got drunk at a Raudenfeld / Cooper party) . Bruce set her back down and looked at her all serious like (or as serious as he could) . "Where's our girl?"

Karma would have been lying if she said hearing those words ( _our_ girl) didn't do a little something to her. Considering how often she'd felt like an afterthought in her own family and that her _other_ family (Amy) wasn't even here, off with her new college-going-girlfriend Rayna (and, apparently, Amy did have a type, at least when it came to names) it was nice ( _more_ than nice) for someone to make Karma feel like she belonged.

"That's why I came over, " Karma said. "I thought she might be with you."

Bruce shook his head and then closed his eyes as the room kept shaking even after he'd stopped. "Haven't seen her," he said. "Last time was like an hour ago and she said she had to get something ready. I figured that had to do with you since pretty much everything my show pony does lately has to do with you. "

Karma blushed and hung her head until Bruce tucked a finger under her chin and lifted her eyes to his.

"I didn't mean that as a bad thing, Special K, " he said and Karma blushed again at the nickname. "I'm glad of it. Very glad. My little show... _Lauren_...hasn't been this happy in, well… " Bruce drifted off and his eyes focused (as best they could) on some point over Karma's shoulder. "Well, I'll be… "

Karma turned, confused (even more than usual) at Bruce's weirdness but then she saw her. Lauren. She stood on the stairs in a simple black dress. It wasn't inappropriate or scandalous in any way, but there was _no_ way anyone who saw her could _ever_ look away. It fit her just right, hugging every curve (the ones Karma was slowly learning to know by heart), dipping low enough to tease the tiniest hint of cleavage, and short enough that Karma could just stand there drinking in the sight of those perfect legs all night.

"it was her mom's, " Bruce whispered. "The dress, I mean. Her mother wore that dress the first time I ever took her out and… " He trailed off and if Karma could have pulled her eyes from Lauren she'd have seen the tears in his. "i may know where she got it, Karma," he whispered again, "but I'm pretty sure it's not me she's wearing it for."

Bruce gave her a gentle shove to get her moving (cause she would have stayed there staring all night) and Karma quickly made her way to the stairs. Lauren saw her and, just for a second, the smile on her face lit the room.

Karma knew _that_ smile, the one that disappeared again so quickly, but she didn't mind that it was gone. She knew it would be back once they were alone. That smile was just for her.

"Hey, " she said when she got to the bottom of the stairs. "You look… _wow_." Not for the first time Karma wished she had better words or a smoother way of saying how she felt but, like she'd learned about Bruce, Lauren had spent the last six months learning Karma.

She knew what 'wow' meant and it was more than enough for her.

Lauren held out a hand and Karma took it, letting the tiny blonde lead her up the stairs (and if she enjoyed the front view in the dress, the back view was _to die_ for) . They walked down the hall Karma had gone down so many times in her life but instead of turning right into Amy's room, they turned left into Lauren's.

It had been six months but Karma was still getting used to that.

Lauren shut the door behind them and Karma heard the lock click but she was too busy staring at the piles of stuff on the floor next to the bed and the one pink box on it. "What's going - "

Karma's words left her as lauren pressed her lips to hers and then stepped back. "This, " she said, waving at the pile on the floor, "is 2015. " Karma studied the pile. There was a football jersey, probably Tommy's. The outfit Lauren had worn in those boudoir photos Shane had helped her with. The hoodie she'd worn when she was stalking Theo and the dress she'd worn to prom. "Even with the last six months, 2015 kinda sucked," Lauren said and Karma couldn't help but agree. "So I'm letting _almost_ all of it go '

Karma smiled cause she understood that she was the _almost_.

Lauren led her in and steered her to sit on the edge of the bed. "This," she said, handing Karma the pink box, "is 2016."

Karms opened it. Inside was just about the sexiest lingerie she'd ever seen. It was silky and soft with stockings and garters and a bra that would cover just enough and it was all this perfect shade of green, the kind of green that would look soooo good with her hair and…

"Wait, " she said "is this for… '

And then she looked up.

Somehow while Karma had been looking in the box, Lauren had shimmied out of the black dress and Karma was now looking at her girlfriend in the exact same outfit she'd picked for her. Only Lauren's was red and even though they'd fooled around a bit this was the most of Lauren Karma had ever seen at one time and the effect was, well...

"Wow."

Lauren smiled (that one just for her) and Karma tried to breathe.

"I thought you could go change in the bathroom and then, you know, come back in and we could um… well.. um… "

If sassy and smartass and eye rolling Lauren was the one Karma had fallen for, this one…

This was the one that made her _stay_.

She stood, dropping the box into the bed and pulled Lauren to her. The feel of Lauren's skin under her hands and pressing against her was almost more than Karma could stand. She cupped the blonde's cheeks and pressed a soft kiss to her lips before glancing over at the digital clock next to the bed.

11:59

"One minute, " Karma said. "Just enough time. "

"Time for what?"Lauren asked, her breathing heavy. Clearly being this almost naked and this close to Karma affected her too.

"I wanted to tell you this right before midnight," Karma said. "So at least 2015 would _end_ well."

Lauren shivered as she felt Karma's hands roam across her back and her girlfriend leaned in, her lips next to Lauren's ear. "Tell me what? "

She watched as the clock blinked, the numbers flipping over just as Karma whispered.

"I love you."

Lauren's grip around Karma's waist tightened and she felt tears prick her eyes and the words sprang free without hesitation.

"I love you too, she said.

They stayed there like that, just holding each other, for the first three minutes of 2016.

And then Karma slipped into the bathroom and changed Into her gift and came back to find Lauren waiting for her in the bed.

And the first three _hours_ of 2016?

Wow.


	2. Spokane (A Very Larma Valentine's)

She hates it. She absolutely without a doubt, without reservation _fucking_ hates this day and everything associated with it. She hates the candy and the cards and the flowers and those boxes and boxes and boxes of stupidly themed tiny valentine's for tiny people to give to other tiny people.

"It's _evil_ ," Lauren says, her grip tight on the wheel and her eyes glued to the road. "Sinking their hooks into them that young. It's just evil and mean and evil and wrong and did I mention evil?"

Once or twice or _every day_ for the last _two weeks_ , Amy _thinks_ but she says nothing.

See, she's heard this before.

"It's all commercialization," Lauren says. She reaches down to shut the radio off ( _another_ love song and at least it isn't Celine singing how her heart will go on, _again_ , cause last time Lauren heard that she damn near ripped the volume knob off) but Amy slaps her hand away before she can shut it down.

Lauren glares but Amy doesn't even look. "Passenger controls radio," she says. "Your rule."

Lauren's usually the passenger and Amy's usually the driver because Lauren has issues with road… _upset_.

(Amy said 'rage' once and Lauren took a corner on two wheels and Amy doesn't say that anymore.)

"Still fucking _evil_ ," she mutters and Amy resists the urge to point out that if anyone would know about evil….

She wants to make it home in one piece. If only to see the look on Lauren's face and, maybe, finally get five minutes of peace.

"Everyone complains," Lauren says (and peace, Amy knows, is still a bit of a ways off.) "This side bitches that we put too much emphasis on body image for kids and the other side whines that we're raising a nation of wussies." She grips the wheel tighter and snorts. "But what about _this_ shit? Teaching the children that a little Hallmark and some Hershey can make up for _everything_? Where's all the complaints about _that?_ "

Amy's pretty sure they're all _here_. Right here, in the car and in her house and following Lauren around, floating over her head like one of those cartoon storm clouds and it's been raining in Lauren land all week. Or, to be accurate since the moment Karma followed her parents onto a flight out of Austin with promises of only being gone a day or two or a week. _Tops_.

It's been a month and a half and, as far as Lauren knows, there's no end in sight.

" _Evil_ ," she spits as she turns along the road leading to Hester. "Teaching people that a little candy and some overpriced flowers and a cheesy sentiment written by some housewife in Cincinnati for a multi-billion dollar corporation on one day could make up for the other 364 days you're a shithead to the one you… love."

"365," Shane says from the back seat and Lauren turns to glare and Amy shakes her head and sighs and wonders, not for the first time, why she includes him in things. "It's 365 this year," he says. "Leap year, remember?"

 _No_ , Amy thinks, _she_ didn't _remember but thank you for reminding her because now… 3… 2… 1…_

"365!" Lauren slaps her hands down on the wheel and the horn honks and Amy and Shane both jump a little in their seats. "Even better. An entire fucking calendar year of.. crap… all made up for with one card. _One card_."

 _Roses are red, violets are blue_. _I'm sorry I can't be there with you_.

Amy knows the _one_ card well. She's had it waved in her face and slapped down on a table in front of her and wagged in her face like a scolding finger with words like ' _your_ best friend' and ' _your_ buddy' and ' _your_ soulmate' and _your your your_

Amy's pretty sure custody transfers from _best_ friend to _girl_ friend upon the occasion of the fucking and since she accidentally snuck back into Lauren's window instead of her own on New Year's Eve (she was drunk and she _paid_ for breaking that rule, in fucking spades) she knows _that_ occasion has come and gone.

No pun intended.

Since Lauren can't yell at Karma (she'd have to be speaking to her to do _that_ ) she's settled for Amy and so Amy hasn't had a moment of silence (other than sleep and that's only cause even Lauren has to rest once in a while) since the calendar flipped to February and even less (if that's possible) since Karma's card arrived in the mail and even less (and now she knows she's gotta be into the _negatives_ , the less than zeros) since Lauren stopped replying to Karma's calls and texts so the redhead suddenly remembered she has a best friend and so Amy's had Lauren live and in person and Karma live and on the line (or on the screen when she can't call cause school or sleep or, increasingly, cause Amy won't _fucking pick up_ ) and she swears if this goes one more day…

Or, more than one more hour or however the hell long it takes Lauren to get them home since she keeps sitting there at stop signs and traffic lights and to let small squirrels cross the road, anything to avoid being home (read: alone) on Valentine's Day, even if it means spending all of V.D. with Shane and Amy in a car.

"A whole _year_ ," Lauren mutters. Her hands are tight on the wheel (ten and two) and her knuckles are going white and Amy's so worried she's gonna blow before they're safely back in the driveway that she almost tells Lauren everything.

But she promised.

But… if she has to hear about how evil it is one more time…

"So, it's evil?" Shane prompts and now it's _Amy_ turning to glare at him for encouraging her but Shane just grins. He's hanging out with them on V.D. cause he's got no BF and his BFF is off with his new GF and so if Amy was hoping Shane _wouldn't_ egg Lauren on? She's S.O.L.

" _So_ evil," Lauren says, her eyes finding his in the rearview. The song on the radio's changed again and it's Sam Smith and _really_ , how the _fuck_ is that V.D. music? But Lauren reaches down before Amy can stop her and turns it _up_ and Amy's about to _give_ up and blow the whole fucking thing. "Just a bunch of commercialized crap," Lauren says. "Preying on the young and the desperate and the chocoholics."

Sam drones on and Lauren's hands slip to nine and three and she's blinking her eyes like she's fighting off tears and Amy's _so close_ to cracking.

"And now an extra day," Lauren says and there's a crack in her voice Amy can't miss. "One _more_ day to let people down and fuck them over even _after_ you say you love them but then disappear for a fucking month and a half."

It's the first _obvious_ Karma reference she's made all day and Amy knows she should let it go by without comment (like she could _ever_ do _that_ ) and she leans her head against the car window and sighs, watching her breath fog the glass. "It's not like she did it on _purpose_ , Lauren," Amy says and she can see the reflection of her sister's head snap around in the window and yup, she's done it again.

Rule #1 of Amy & Lauren's sisterhood: Don't discuss Karma (a rule Lauren breaks on the regular but that's _Lauren_.)

Rule #2 of Amy & Lauren's sisterhood: Don't _defend_ Karma (especially not when said defense is meant to explain why, three days after New Year's and three days after the first 'I love you' and three days after Amy accidentally saw Karma's first O-Face from another girl, Karma left with her family for…)

"Spokane."

Amy hangs her head and mutters under her breath and Shane leans forward in his seat cause _he_ hasn't heard this yet while Amy can recite it chapter and fucking verse.

"On purpose or not, she _went_ ," Lauren says. "She went to Spokane. _Spokane_. I didn't even know that was a real fucking city, I thought they made it up for _Red Dawn_."

"Wolverines!" Shane yells, shooting a hand in the air and banging his fist on the roof of the car and Amy makes a silent vow to kill him at the first opportunity.

"Who," Lauren asks, "goes to _Spokane_?"

Amy stays silent cause she's learned (the hard way) it's a rhetorical question and one that does not require the 'someone who has family there that needs help and Molly and Lucas _always_ help and it wasn't supposed to be this long and you have to know Karma misses you as much as you miss her' answer she gave the _first_ time.

Lauren said she wasn't speaking to her and Amy thought she'd get peace then but it lasted all of an hour until Karma tried ( _again_ ) to arrange some Skype time with Lauren only to have to back out at the last minute.

Lauren mutters "Fucking Spokane," again as she pulls of the main road and into their neighborhood. "Must be a hell of a city. Great night life. Awesome scenery. Tons. Of. Fun. For. Everyone." She stops (barely) at the corner by Karma's house and Amy watches as she deliberately _doesn't_ look that way. "Sort of place you could get _lost_ in and _never_ come back."

The car rolls on and they pass the Ashcroft house and it strikes Amy that she hasn't seen the inside of it since _last year_ and it hasn't been that long, she knows, for Lauren, but it's still been _a while_ and Lauren doesn't slow down as they go by (but she doesn't speed _up_ and that's an improvement) but that also means she misses that the curtains are open and the shades are no longer drawn and the side door is propped open like someone was lugging some stuff through it.

Lauren's eyes never leave the road and Amy checks her phone (and yes, all is still in order) and reminds herself that she's enduring all this for a good cause and that yes, she will be rewarded and no, that reward will _not_ be getting to duct tape Lauren's mouth shut but, if all goes according to plan, her mouth will be otherwise occupied and Amy should, at the _very least_ , get a couple hours of silence.

She turns down their street and Amy's relieved to see the driveway is empty (she knows Farrah promised but a Farrah promise - like till death do us part - isn't exactly _binding_ ) and she subtly shakes her head at Shane as Lauren parks and unbuckles.

"You staying out here all day?" Lauren asks and Amy shrugs and Shane follows suit and now Lauren knows they're up to something and her natural distrust for _all people_ kicks in and overrides her Karma-centric misery. "What the fuck is going on?" she asks but Shane whistles in the backseat and Amy refuses to meet her eyes.

"Just go on in," she tells Lauren. "We'll be there in a minute."

The tiny blonde's hand reaches for the car keys and, for a second, Amy thinks she's gonna throw it in gear and peel the hell on out of there, but then she plucks them from the ignition with a snap of her wrist. "Fine," she says. "Sit out here and be fucking weird."

Lauren slams her way out of the car and Amy and Shane watch her stalk up the driveway to the front door and then on into the house.

"Three," Amy says. "Two, One…"

There's a squeal from inside (a sound Lauren will _never_ admit to making and one Amy will _never_ let her forget) and the two of them smile in the car and clamber out, heading for the house and they barely make it through the door before running headlong into an inseparable Karma and Lauren, attached at the hips and the lips and, it seems, everywhere in between.

"Ew," Shane mumbles though the tiny little smile on his lips belies his words (he does _love_ his lesbian energy, even if comes from _them_ ) and Amy smiles too (and ignores the odd pang in her chest seeing _them_ always causes) and clears her throat to let them know they have an audience.

Larma (as Shane dubbed them and Lauren threatened him with death if he ever said it out loud again - so he does, _as often as possible_ ) part (at least their lips) and Lauren curls against Karma, resting her head on her girlfriend's shoulder as Karma turns to Amy and Shane.

"Hey," she says. "Pulled it off, huh?"

Lauren's head pops up. "Wait… you _knew? Both_ of you?"

Shane nods and Amy grins (getting one over on Lauren was half the fun.) "Yeah, we knew," she says. "Karma and I planned the whole thing out. Getting you out of the house, leaving the spare key where she could find it, when exactly to bring you back."

"I wanted to surprise you," Karma says and Lauren turns back to her (and even Amy can see the love in her eyes in even just that simple look.) "And I didn't want to go with some stupid card or some overpriced flowers or boring chocolate. Not when I have so much to make up for."

Lauren blinks again (like in the car) and Amy and Shane start to make for the door. "You've got nothing to make up for," Lauren says. "Family always comes first."

Amy staggers and Shane has to catch her and he squeezes her arm because he knows the next words out of her mouth will, no doubt, be 'fucking Spokane' and Amy glares at him, but she stays silent.

"I know," Karma says softly as she entwines Lauren's fingers with her own. "That's why I'm here. This is where _my_ family is."

Shane and Amy exchange a look and then they're out the door (which shuts, rather quickly, behind them) and neither of them has the car keys but that's fine cause Shane's house is within walking distance and even if it wasn't, it's still better than staying there.

"You did good," Shane says and she knows he means the call she made to Molly and Lucas, the one that convinced them to let Karma come home early by herself, as long as she kept an eye on the house but _stayed_ with the Raudenfelds. "Maybe now you'll get some peace and quiet."

Amy nods. She's sure she is. Farrah's out for the weekend (pretending she's not with Bruce enjoying exes with benefits) and Karma and Lauren will be all wrapped up in each other and yeah, maybe she'll be alone for Valentine's Day / Night, but at least it will be peaceful and quiet.

"Of course," Shane says. "Lauren and Karma haven't seen each other in more than a month and her room _is_ right across the hall…"

Amy stops dead in her tracks and shakes her head. She knew it was too good to be true.

"Fucking Spokane," she mutters. " _Fucking Spokane_."


End file.
